Sheriff: response slows if Maine town drops police

CLINTON, Maine (AP) — The Kennebuc County Sheriff's Department is warning the town of Clinton that if it dissolves its local police force, some calls might not get answered until the next day.

Clinton voters rejected the police department's roughly $198,000 budget earlier this month at Town Meeting. Voters will consider the budget again in August.

The Morning Sentinel reports (http://bit.ly/175wPhW) it's the second time in three years the town has considered dropping the department.

If it decides to do so, police calls would be covered by the state police and sheriff's department. Kennebuc Sheriff Randall Liberty says response time to calls will be much longer. And he says with the sheriff and state police already covering 21 of the counties' 30 communities, it would stretch law enforcement county-wide.